


By Storm or by Surprise

by Anthemyst



Series: Dangerous Beings [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: M/M, but none of the characters in this are soulmates, or are they???, this is set in my Dangerous Beings AU, which is a soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-19
Packaged: 2018-12-14 21:16:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11791638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthemyst/pseuds/Anthemyst
Summary: Adrien Agreste always figured he and Ladybug were destined to live happily ever after. But after a shocking family revelation forces him to question everything, he's surprised to find that one friend's support means even more to him than he'd realized.Set directly afterThe Female of the Species.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, nobody really asked for this but a lot of readers seemed to consider the Adrien/Nino relationship to be out of left field after the two year break in Dangerous Beings, so I thought I'd write out the story of how they got together.

 

August 2017

 

Adrien didn’t let out the breath he’d been holding until he got back to his room and shut the door firmly behind him. “Plagg?”

“Jeez, kid,” his kwami said, appearing before him, “hold onto your stuff better, would you? I don’t like being out of commission for a week, I’m a cat who needs his freedom.”

Adrien sighed in relief. “I missed you, too,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Plagg said, tolerating the hug Adrien gave him. He tilted his head to the side. “You okay, kid?”

Adrien let out a wry laugh. “What, why wouldn’t I be? Because my mother stole my Miraculous, or because my father’s a supervillain?” Adrien hesitated. “Did you… did you know?”

“That your dad was Hawkmoth? Not a clue,” Plagg answered immediately. “Wish I had, I would have taken care of him myself and saved you the year of trouble.” He held up his little kwami fists in demonstration.

“Thanks.” Adrien glanced down at the ring, now back on his finger. His hand had felt naked all week without it, but putting it back wasn’t quite enough to set his mind at ease. “I know… I know you were stuck in this all week, but would you mind if I-”

“Go for it, kid,” Plagg said. “I miss it as much as you do. Besides, how else are you going to talk to Ladybug?”

Adrien grinned. “Plagg, claws out!” Once he was transformed, Chat picked up his baton and activated the call feature. After a few rings, a face he’d missed seeing for a week appeared.

“Chat! You’re back! You’re back now, right? Where have you-”

“Can we talk in person?” Chat interrupted. “Everything’s fine, I just-”

“Of course,” Ladybug said immediately. “Top of Notre Dame?”

“Perfect.”

Chat took the scenic route to their rendezvous. He’d missed this so much, running and leaping over the rooftops of Paris as Chat, the absolute freedom that came with the transformation. When he finally landed, Ladybug was waiting for him and she wasted no time at all in closing the distance between them and throwing her arms around her partner. “What _happened_?” she asked.

“The Guardian didn't tell you?” Adrien had gone to the Guardian as soon as he’d left Agreste manor last week, before he’d even gone to Nino’s, and explained everything to him. To Adrien’s surprise, Fu hadn’t seemed nearly as concerned as Adrien expected, or wanted, him to be, and he hadn’t had much advice for Adrien getting his Miraculous back. Adrien had assumed the Guardian would at least have the decency to pass on the situation to Ladybug, though.

“No! I-he said not to worry, but I couldn't help-” Ladybug tightened her arms around Chat. “You're okay? Really?”

“Yeah,” Chat said, “I'm-well, things have been weird but I wasn't, like, hurt or anything.”

Ladybug pulled away to look Chat in the eye, but kept her hands on his arms. “So what happened?”

“Um…” Chat hesitated, then walked to the edge of the roof and sat down, dangling his legs over the side. Ladybug joined him and waited patiently. “It's a long story,” Chat said, “but the short version is I couldn't transform because, uh, because my mom took my Miraculous.”

Ladybug’s eyes widened. “She found out?”

“Apparently. I don't know how, but she knows a lot of magic so I guess it was only a matter of time.”

“Oh. Why'd she-”

“She didn't want me to get hurt, I guess.” Chat shrugged. “Anyway, she gave it back today, I guess she's getting used to the idea, so here I am.”

“Oh.” Ladybug paused. “I'm sure my parents would worry if they found out too,” she said, “but I can't imagine either of them stealing my earrings, no matter how scared they were.”

“Yeah, my parents don't, uh, don't always have the best response to things.” Chat laughed humorlessly. “That's a gross understatement, actually. Um. Some things came out, after she took it, my parents were arguing and I was eavesdropping, and…”

Ladybug looked at Chat’s face, drawn and tight and incredibly apprehensive, and she put a hand to his shoulder. “You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,” she said gently.

“No, I want to, it's just…” Chat sighed, then braced himself, his fingers clutching the ledge. “My father is Hawkmoth.”

Chat glanced at Ladybug nervously, his chest tight, and for a while she was speechless. “Are you okay?” she finally whispered.

Chat sighed in relief. “Yeah,” he said.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “You didn't think I'd be _mad_ , did you?”

“No, I just… I mean, I care what you think of me and I didn't know if you'd-”

“You're not responsible for what your father does, Chat, you know that, right?”

Chat shrugged. “Maybe I should have noticed. I live with him, I was living with him the whole time, he was always disappearing and I never noticed, I,” he laughed humorlessly again, “I was _relieved_ sometimes, that he didn't notice how _I’d_ disappear, I never realized what it meant that it was at the same-”

“ _Chat_. It's not. Your fault.” Ladybug fixed him with a serious stare.

Chat blinked rapidly. “Okay,” he said, his voice small. “Yeah, you're right.”

Ladybug sighed. “Good.” She hesitated. “Are you, um… do you need somewhere to stay?”

Chat shook his head. “No, it's fine,” he said. “Really,” he added, catching the look Ladybug was giving him. “He won't hurt me. I don't think he'll hurt anyone anymore. He was horrified, you know, when he realized that I was… and that I knew that he was… anyway, he gave it all up half a year ago, on his own.”

Ladybug nodded, though she still looked skeptical. “Do you know why?” she asked.

“Kind of. I'll get the full story soon, but I couldn't, you know, really deal with any of them for the past week so I haven't asked yet. But he, um, got a soulmate. Back then.”

“ _Hawkmoth_ got a _soulmate_?” Ladybug exclaimed. She immediately covered her mouth, horrified. “Oh, God, Chat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like-I know he's your father, I just, it surprised me and… I mean, so few people get them! You just assume it's people that, you know…”

Chat raised an eyebrow. “Deserve them?” he suggested.

“Well, yeah.”

“I know. I think,” Chat paused for a moment, “I think maybe everyone thinks about soulmates all wrong. But I don't know what the right way is anymore.”

Ladybug nodded slowly. “I guess so.” She put an arm around Chat’s shoulders. “You’ll tell me if anything’s wrong from now on?” she asked. “You won’t be scared to come to me with stuff like this? You know you’re my partner no matter what, right?”

Chat nodded. “Yeah,” he said, a giant weight lifted from his shoulders.

“Good.”

 

* * *

 

Adrien made it about two and a half steps into the Lahiffe home before being engulfed in a hug from Nino’s mom. Adrien wasn't sure, exactly, how a hug from a woman a full head shorter than him could be so disarming, but he knew from experience that he wasn't going anywhere until Mrs. Lahiffe was done with him.

“Adrien!” she cried happily. “How have you been, pumpkin?”

“Staying for dinner, son?” Nino’s father asked, calling over from the kitchen.

“Guys, stop, you're embarrassing him,” Nino complained as he descended the condo staircase. “He's just picking stuff up that he forgot here last week. Sorry, dude.”

“It's fine,” Adrien said, and he meant it. Home was finally starting to feel more like home, but it was still complicated and awkward and a part of Adrien wished he could just stay at the Lahiffe’s forever, where everything was simple and warm and made sense.

“If you're not staying for dinner, here,” Mrs. Lahiffe said, shoving a plate of baklava that she'd apparently summoned out of thin air into Adrien’s hands. Grinning, Adrien picked up a piece and took a bite before following Nino upstairs.

“I can’t believe your parents want me back already,” Adrien said, as he entered Nino’s bedroom and Nino handed over the bag of random things Adrien had left. “You’d think after a whole week they’d be sick of me.”

“Are you kidding? You spoiled them,” Nino said. “Now you have to come by for dinner at least once a week for the rest of your life, or I’ll never hear the end of it.” Adrien grinned. “I know they’re a bit… much,” Nino admitted, “but they really do want you to feel welcome here. And so do I. You didn’t have to leave just because it had been a week, you know. You could have stayed longer if you needed to.”

“I know,” Adrien said. “Thanks. It’s fine, though, it was time for me to go back home and start working through stuff. It’s… things at home are going to be better now.”

Nino nodded. “Well… any time, dude, you know? And, uh, if you ever want to talk about what it was that brought you over in the first place, I’m always here.” Adrien nodded, but his chest tightened. He did want to talk about it, of course he did, but he couldn’t without outing himself as Chat. “And if you never want to talk about it, that’s cool too,” Nino continued. “You’re welcome here either way, you never have to explain anything to me-to us.”

“Thanks, man.” Adrien knew Nino was dying to know what was going on, but that his friend would never, ever, make him feel like he had to share it. He fought back the urge to tell Nino everything. “I don’t have to be home for another hour or so,” Adrien said instead. “Wanna get in a few rounds of that Mortal Kombat rip-off?”

“Rip-off?” Nino exclaimed, grinning even as he feigned indignation. He grabbed his controllers and handed one to Adrien. “It’s an _homage_.”

 

January 2018

 

“Marinette?”

For a moment, Marinette was sure she was dreaming. She’d almost completely dozed off at her desk, after hours of working on new designs for an internship application due next week, when she heard her name being called to her from her balcony. It was a very familiar voice, but outside of her dreams it was one that almost never called her by that name. She shook herself awake, heard it a second time, and hurried to the trapdoor. She stuck her head up, and was momentarily speechless.

“ _Chat_?” Marinette finally said. “What are you doing on my balcony?”

“Sorry, is this weird?” Chat asked, looking down at her guiltily from his perch on the railing. “Should I go, am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Well,” Marinette only hesitated for a moment before climbing up, “I'll have a hell of a time explaining it to my mother if she catches us,” she said with a wry grin, “but no, it's okay. Do you need something?”

“Um… can I talk to you?” Chat asked.

“Me?” Marinette walked over to the railing next to Chat and leaned against it. “Why?”

Chat shrugged. “You're really smart,” he said, “and confident, and you always seem to know what to do.”

Marinette blinked. “You barely know me,” she said, trying not to sound suspicious.

“Oh. Right. I know, but um… you know, you handled the Evillustrator really well.”

Marinette blushed. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Chat hopped down from the railing and leaned next to her. “Most people would’ve panicked, but you were so clever.”

Marinette’s blush deepened. “Thanks, but… wouldn't you rather talk about stuff with someone who knows you better? Like, I don't know, Ladybug?”

“Usually I would,” Chat admitted, “but, um, it's kind of about her this time. Partly.”

 _Shit_. “Oh. Um. Maybe, uh, maybe I'm not the best person to talk to, then.”

Immediately, Chat’s face fell about ten stories. “Why not?”

“Well, uh… my best friend, she runs the Ladyblog, I don't want there to be like a conflict of-”

“You're not going to tell her anything, are you?” Chat asked, horrified.

“Of course not!”

“So what's the problem?”

“I… guess there isn't one,” Marinette said, defeated. God, Chat _really_ looked like he needed this. Marinette knew one day he'd find out who she was, and maybe he’d be mad then, but right now her friend needed her, she was sure of it. She put a hand to his shoulder. “What's wrong?”

Chat looked out at the Paris skyline for a moment before speaking. “Do you have a mark?” he asked.

“A soulmark?” Marinette was laughing before she could help herself. “I'm barely seventeen. If I got a soulmark everyone in Paris would be able to hear me screaming about it, believe me.”

Chat smiled. “Yeah, me too,” he said. “But you still look, right?”

“Of course. You never know, right? Besides, everybody looks.”

Chat looked away. “You'd be surprised,” he muttered. “Anyway, um… are you looking for a name? A specific one, I mean?”

“Oh. Hm.” Marinette considered the question for a bit. “Not exactly,” she said. “There are a couple of names I'd be overjoyed to see the next time I check. But if it was a stranger, I'd still be excited.” Chat nodded. “I used to be,” she added. “There was this one name, when I started looking. I would have been devastated to see anyone else's name probably, back then.”

“Really? What changed?”

“Oh,” Marinette shrugged, “I grew up a little, I hope. I wasn't… I fell for him too fast, I had him on this pedestal, and it was getting in the way of developing something real with him. It's better now. We’re really good friends. I'd still flip if his name wound up on my back,” she laughed, “but it's different. Why?”

“Um. Well, I was looking for a specific name for ages,” he said. “Well… I mean, I didn't know what name I was looking for because I don't know her name, not her real one.”

“Ladybug,” Marinette said softly.

“Yeah. But I looked and I hoped I'd read a name and then we'd meet, in real life, and I'd tell her who I was and she'd tell me she was Ladybug and we'd live happily ever after, right? I bet I fell for her faster than you fell for your guy. I didn't really have a lot of friends before I got the ring, and then we met, and it just felt perfect, you know?” Marinette nodded, not sure what she could possibly say to this. “And I got friends, too, other friends, at about the same time. This one guy, right away I knew he'd be my best friend for life. And then, about half a year ago, um… stuff was weird at home for a while.”

‘Weird at home’. Well, that was one way to put finding out your father was the villain you'd spent the first year of your superhero career fighting. “Uh huh,” Marinette said noncommittally.

“And I talked to Ladybug about it, and she was great. Amazing, actually.” Marinette tried her best not to blush at this. “And my friend, I couldn't talk to him about it because it was related to being Chat, he doesn't know, he can't know. But he didn't pry or ask any questions. He just helped me get my mind off things. He was there for me more than I ever thought he could be.”

“That sounds nice,” Marinette said.

“It was. Is.”

Marinette tilted her head at Chat. “So…” she prompted.

“So… after that, I'm not sure how long, it took me so long to even admit it to myself, I've never even said it out loud before, but. I'm not just looking for Ladybug’s name anymore.”

“No?”

“I think… I think I didn't actually know very much, about friendship and romance, when I met both of them. Because now I'm starting to think maybe… maybe I had it backwards, two years ago. Maybe I had it wrong, which one of them was going to be my best friend for life and which one…”

Understanding dawned. “Which one you're in love with,” Marinette finished.

Chat’s face went red. “I don't know,” he mumbled. “I don't know if I want to call it that, but I can't stop thinking about… just, like, _being_ with him. It's crazy, I see him all the time already.”

Marinette nodded and took a moment to organize her thoughts. “You don't need a mark to be with him, Chat,” she said.

“I can't be with him.”

“Why not?”

“He doesn't like me like that. We've been friends for two years and he's never-”

“Have you?” Chat didn't say anything. “Maybe he doesn't think _you’re_ interested. How would he know?”

“I can't tell him about being Chat. How could I be with someone if I had to keep a secret that big? If I had to hide half of who I am?”

Marinette bit her lip. She'd worried about the same thing for two years herself, after all, and after all that time she still wasn't sure she’d figured out a very good answer. “You're the same person in costume and out, Chat,” she said. “You're not half yourself in and half yourself out. It's a big secret, sure, but you’re not hiding who you are from the people you love just because you don't tell them.” _I hope, anyway_ , Marinette thought to herself.

Chat shrugged. “Maybe.” He sighed. “What if this messes everything up with Ladybug?”

“Huh?”

“We never talked about… you know, _us_. I don’t know, maybe she thought the same thing I did, that everything would work out and we’d be together one day. Things have always been so easy between us. What if they’re different now?”

“They won’t be,” Marinette said, realizing too late that she might sound too certain. “I mean… well, I’m sure Ladybug’s thought about the possibility of you two being together,” she continued, and she was. Chat was one of the best people Marinette knew, and his name, whatever it was, was definitely one she’d be happy to find on her back one day. But he was also her best friend, and Marinette couldn’t imagine anything changing that. “I’m sure Ladybug will be happy for you no matter what happens,” Marinette said. “You two are too close to let something like this get in the way of your partnership. You should talk to her, tell her about your friend. I think… I’m sure she’d want to be there for you.”

Chat nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Ladybug’s always been an amazing friend. I shouldn’t be worried to talk to her.”

“You should talk to your other friend, too,” Marinette added.

“What if it ruins everything?”

“If this guy’s as good a friend as you say,” Marinette said confidently, “I’m sure it won’t.”


	2. Chapter 2

May 2018

 

Chat just barely made it to his classroom, now abandoned for lunch, before losing his transformation. He sighed in relief, leaning against the desks, and gave himself a minute to catch his breath.

“Jeez, kid, shouldn't you be better at timing these things by now?” Plagg asked, hovering.

“Sorry,” Adrien breathed heavily, “won't happen again.”

“Yeah, it will. Just make sure you're stocked up on extra cheese when it does, it’s hard enough keeping my energy up without you cutting everything so close to-” Plagg stopped whining and promptly vanished inside Adrien’s shirt. There was only one reason Plagg would disappear without finishing a demand for Camembert. Stomach sinking, Adrien slowly turned around.

Standing in the doorway was a very shocked Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Oh, _no_.

What had she heard? What had she _seen_? If she'd just overheard him talking, Adrien could probably pretend he'd been on the phone or watching a video or something… but she would have already assumed that, if she’d only heard something. She wouldn't be looking at him the way she was now. Marinette wasn't that jumpy or easily surprised anymore, she'd grown out of that years ago.

If she'd seen Chat run into the room, Adrien was screwed, but if she'd only seen Plagg… well, that wasn't ideal, but Adrien could work with it. The general public didn't know about kwami after all, just about the Miraculouses. She’d want an explanation, but she wouldn't figure out that Adrien was-

“ _Chat_?”

Fuck.

“Hey, Marinette,” Adrien said, trying and utterly failing to sound casual. “Yeah, Chat was just here, he ran out the window, you just missed him. I thought it was weird, but I guess that's superheroes for you. What, um, what are you doing here?”

Marinette blinked, her expression not a bit less relaxed after Adrien’s flimsy explanation, and pointed wordlessly at her purse, which she'd evidently forgotten at her desk. “Chat,” she repeated. “You're Chat Noir. _You’re_ Chat Noir.”

“No,” Adrien said weakly, “I told you, Chat just-”

“I need to sit down,” Marinette interrupted, putting a hand to her chest in a futile attempt to stop hyperventilating.

“Marinette,” Adrien said slowly, “you're not listening to me, I'm telling you I'm not-” Marinette cut him off with a small scream, which she quickly did her best to muffle, her hands flying up to her mouth.”

“Oh my _God_ ,” she said loudly, “Hawkmoth was _Gabriel Agreste_?”

The little color that remained in Adrien’s face at this point was now gone. “What?”

“I can't believe it! I looked up to that jerk! Sorry, no offense, but I mean… he’s, like, my career idol! I've looked up to him for years, and that whole time-well, just a year I guess, but still-he was a _supervillain?”_

“How did you know that?” Adrien demanded.

“You told me Hawkmoth was your-wait. Shoot. Um.” Marinette looked up at Adrien, realizing her mistake far too late. “Um,” she repeated.

Adrien's eyes widened as everything clicked. “Ladybug?”

Marinette took a deep breath and looked up at her partner. “Hi, kitty,” she said shyly. “You okay?”

“I think… I think that idea you had about sitting down was probably a good one,” Adrien said weakly before taking the seat next to her.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. “So… that time Volpina pretended to abduct you,” Marinette finally said. “And Chat was so sure it was an illusion, even though you were nowhere to be found.”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “And… and that time Ladybug couldn’t help me go after Evillustrator, so I said that you’d have to be my partner for the night?”

Marinette chucked. “Yeah.” She thought again. “Every time we were both late to the same class.”

“How many hints did we miss?” Adrien wondered.

“Probably a lot,” Marinette said. They fell back into silence for another few minutes, and then Marinette gasped. “You were talking about _Nino_ ,” she said. She turned to Adrien. “Have you said anything?”

Adrien's cheeks went red. “Of course not.”

“What ‘of course not’?” Marinette demanded. “You two would be great together!”

“I don't even know if he could ever see me like that-”

“And you won't find out unless you-”

“And even if he did, I’d have this whole second life I'd be keeping from him the whole time. Nino deserves better than that.” Adrien sighed. “This would be so much easier if I still had that crush on you.”

Marinette snorted. “You don't know the half of it,” she said. “Remember that boy I said I had a crush on a few years ago?”

“Yeah?” Marinette looked at Adrien pointedly and a few seconds later the pieces fell into place. “What, seriously? I didn't even think you _liked_ me when we first met!”

“Not the first day,” Marinette admitted. “But then you gave me that umbrella when it was raining, and you were so nice and genuine, and,” Marinette shrugged. “I didn’t know much about romance either, I guess.” She sighed. “Imagine if we’d found out back then.”

“Everything would have been so neat, everything would have made so much sense,” Adrien said, a touch wistfully.

Marinette grinned. “Yeah, well, who said our lives ever got to make sense?”

Adrien let out a wry laugh, then took Marinette's hand in his, intertwining their fingers, and squeezed. “I'm really glad it's you,” he whispered.

Marinette squeezed back. “Me too, kitty.”

 

September 2018

 

“So, you and Marinette, huh?”

“What?” Adrien asked, confused. Nino laughed.

“Dude, you're not exactly subtle. You two have been hanging out all summer, you’re always off by yourselves whispering about God knows what. I don't know who you think you're fooling, but you can chill out ‘cause everyone else thinks it's pretty cute.”

“No, no, no,” Adrien said, practically tripping over the words. “It's not like that at all. We're friends, that's it. I mean, really good friends. Best friends, maybe, I mean if you're allowed to have more than one of those, but it's not-I don't-we're not-”

Nino laughed again. “Well, why not?” he asked. “Can you think of anyone better to date than your best friend?”

Adrien's heart skipped a beat. “No,” he said softly. “I can't.”

 

* * *

 

Chat hadn’t stopped escorting Ladybug home to her rooftop balcony every night after patrol, not since finding out who she was in real life. She’d rolled her eyes at first-”What’s going to happen to me, Chat? I’m the most dangerous thing in the city!”-but they both knew she’d be disappointed if Chat ever stopped. Besides, Chat didn’t mind extending his time travelling over the rooftops of Paris. Somehow, even after years of nightly patrols, it still hadn’t lost its appeal.

Chat didn’t always head straight back home, either. He’d take little scenic rendezvous sometimes, or just head off in a random direction. That night, he wasn’t paying attention at all to where he was going. His mind kept going back to what Nino had said that afternoon. Chat wanted to believe there might be some kind of a chance for the two of them, but if Nino was so happy to see Adrien and Marinette together, what were the odds that his feelings for Adrien were anything other than platonic? And how could Adrien even begin to raise the subject?

Chat didn’t realize where he was headed until he found himself on the rooftop across from the Lahiffe home. And he didn’t realize why, until he noticed that Nino’s bedroom window was open.

Talking to Nino as Chat _would_ be easier, wouldn’t it? And Nino wouldn’t see him as just a friend if he was Chat. Call it… practice. Operation Talking to Nino: Training Wheels Mode. Once he figured out what to say as Chat, talking to him as Adrien would be so much easier, wouldn’t it?

Before he’d given his plan any serious thought, Chat was running for the edge of the roof, leaping through the air, and landing almost effortlessly on Nino’s windowsill.

Nino looked up from his computer at the noise, and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

“Mind if I come in?” Chat purred.

Nino stared blankly, then shook himself and pulled his headphones off. “What?”

“Mind if I come in?” Chat repeated, trying desperately not to wonder if he'd sounded as cool the second time.

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Nino said, standing up quickly and crossing the room as Chat leapt from the windowsill and landed gracefully on Nino’s bedroom floor. “What, um, brings you over?”

Shit. Why hadn't he thought of some excuse to come here first? “Oh, just, uh, wanted to say… thanks,” Chat finally said.

Nino blinked, nonplussed. “For what?”

“Well, I've noticed you,” Chat said, stepping closer. Yes, that was more like it, things were getting back on track now. “You've helped get civilians to safety more than once during an attack. I really appreciate the help.”

To Chat’s surprise, Nino laughed. “Oh, you mean dragging Alya back to a safe distance?” he asked. “Yeah, sorry about her, she really means well but she's got the self-preservation instincts of a lemming. She's a good friend, I'm happy to keep her from getting killed.”

“Not just Alya,” Chat insisted. “You've helped lots of people in this city. Not many people are that brave.” Chat took a step closer. “If there's ever anything I can do to repay the favor…”

Nino’s smile faded, and he gulped unconsciously, his Adam’s apple bobbing up- _Stop staring at his neck, what is wrong with you_ -before he spoke. “Sure,” Nino said softly. “I… I mean, you don't have to-I'm happy to help. Let me know if, uh, if you ever need anything.”

“I will,” Chat promised, his voice once again a gentle purr. He looked into Nino’s golden eyes, and was immediately lost. Chat had no sense of how much time had passed before Nino cleared his throat awkwardly.

“So...do you?”

“Huh?”

“Need something?” Nino clarified. “Or, uh, was that it?”

“Oh. Right. Um.” Chat cast his eyes around desperately for some excuse to remain, and his gaze landed upon Nino’s computer. “Got any new beats?”

“What? Oh!” Nino turned to his computer. “Yeah, I'm working on this sick remix actually.” Nino yanked his headphone jack out of the computer, and immediately the room was filled with the sounds of an upbeat, electric take on one of Jagged Stone’s newest releases. “You like remixes? Who’s your favorite DJ?”

“You,” Chat said immediately. Was that a blush? “I mean, ever since you had me and LB on _The Challenge_ I've been a fan.”

“ _You’re_ a fan of _me_ ,” Nino repeated dubiously.

Chat leaned in. “And why not?”

Nino laughed nervously. “You're just the most famous guy in Paris, that's all.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I can't appreciate talent. And you, Nino, you make me want to-I mean, your work, it makes me want to dance.” Chat closed his eyes and began moving with the beat of the remix in demonstration for a few bars, then opened his eyes and grinned.

Nino… Nino was not grinning back. And that was _definitely_ a blush. “Good moves,” Nino said weakly.

“I know more,” Chat purred.

“Y-yeah?” Chat nodded, and Nino gulped again. “Show me.”

Chat closed the distance between them in an instant and kissed Nino.

His brain caught up with what he'd done about three seconds later, what the hell was he _doing_ , how was he supposed to think clearly when he was this close to Nino, Nino, Nino _wasn't kissing him back, oh God_ -

“Sorry,” Chat said in a rush, pulling away, “I’m so sorry, I never should have-I’ll go, I won't,” he turned toward the window, “this won't happen again, I'm so sorry, I-”

Chat’s frantic getaway was cut short as Nino grabbed Chat’s arm. “Hey,” Nino said, breathing hard, “just chill, okay?” Slowly, Chat’s heartbeat came back down to a normal pace. How was it that Nino could put him at ease even now, even in this ridiculous situation? “Look,” Nino continued, “I… I definitely did _not_ expect that. But that doesn't mean I don't-I just need a second to process, okay?”

Chat nodded slowly. “Okay.” He waited patiently while Nino continued to look at him silently, evidently deep in thought.

Ten seconds later, Nino grinned and pulled Chat in, kissing him back. Chat's arms were around Nino's waist immediately, and Nino’s free hand found its way to the back of Chat’s head, pulling him in even more. As the kiss deepened, Nino’s fingers combed through Chat’s hair before finding one of Chat’s cat ears. Nino scratched it instinctively, and Chat let out a deep purr. Nino laughed, breaking off the kiss. “You have feeling in these things?” he asked, continuing to scratch.

“Mmhmm,” Chat murmured, his eyelids heavy. “Don't stop.” He leaned back in for another kiss, but-

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_ “Nino! Turn that music off right this second!”

“Shit.” Nino lunged for his computer and pressed a button, silencing the track that both boys had completely forgotten was still playing. “Sorry, Mom!”

“It's almost midnight! Your father and I are trying to sleep, you know you're not supposed to be up this late for anything other than schoolwork!”

Nino’s face flushed red with embarrassment. “I'm going to bed right now!” he shouted, before looking back at Chat. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Where were we?”

“I should go,” Chat said. “I don't want to get you in trouble.”

“You won't,” Nino promised. He took Chat's hand and stepped backwards, towards the bed. “And hey,” Nino sat down on the edge of the mattress, “I'm technically not even lying.” Nino pulled Chat towards him and before Chat knew it they were making out again. Nino scratched Chat’s cat ears again, before moving his hand down and playfully flicking Chat’s bell. “I always wondered what the point of this thing was,” Nino murmured. He tugged at it, pulling the attached zipper down a few inches, and grinned. “Now I know.” Nino leaned in and kissed the now-exposed hollow of Chat’s throat. Chat felt an electric current shoot down his spine, and he let out a soft moan.

“Nino,” Chat purred, “you're perfect, you know that?”

“Me?” Nino laughed, nuzzling Chat's neck. “Are you kidding? You're the superhero, I'm just… me. My friends are never gonna believe this, you know.”

Nino’s friends… _Adrien_ , Nino meant _Adrien_ , what the hell was Chat doing? This wasn't going to make taking to Nino easier, it was going to make it ten times harder. It had been impossible before, but now Adrien had to compete with his own goddamn alter ego on top of everything else, this was wrong, it was all _wrong_ -

“You okay, dude?” Nino asked, pulling away as he sensed Chat’s distress. “I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, I get it.”

“It's not that,” Chat said, “I just-I shouldn't have-but you're perfect, I-” Chat leaned forward and kissed Nino again, unable to resist stealing one last bit of affection, “-just shouldn't be here, it's not fair to you, you're wonderful,” alright, _one_ more kiss and that was it, “I’m sorry, I'm really sorry.” Chat pulled himself away and ran for the window, not slowing down at Nino’s protests, not slowing down as he leapt from the windowsill to the neighboring rooftop, not slowing down until he was all the way back in his own home, his own room, his own bed.

Dropping the transformation, Adrien collapsed backwards and stared at his ceiling in the dark, wide awake. He was completely incapable of sleep. Adrien’s mind replayed over and over the memory of Nino's arms wrapped around him, Nino’s lips on his own, Nino’s fingers in his hair, Nino’s grin, Nino’s eyes, Nino, Nino, Nino.

 

* * *

 

The second class let out for lunch the next day, Adrien sidled up to Marinette. “We need to talk,” he muttered under his breath as they exited the classroom.

Marinette looked up at him nervously. “Is this like a ‘The apocalypse is in six days’ kind of we-need-to-talk, or-”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Adrien said quickly. “But, um, we might have a problem. I might have, uh, done something dumb.”

“How have you had time to do something dumb since patrol ended last night?”

Before Adrien could answer, the two of them ran into a frantic looking Nino in the hallway, dragging Alya behind him. “Good, there you two are,” he said. “We’re all going out for lunch today, I gotta talk to you guys about something.”

“Sorry, Nino,” Marinette said, “Adrien and I need to-”

“Whatever it is, trust me, my thing is crazier. You three are not going to _believe_ the night I had last night, and I really need to talk about it. Please?”

Marinette glanced at Adrien suspiciously, but he was now pointedly avoiding her gaze. “Sure, Nino, of course.”

 

* * *

 

“So… so what do I do now?” Nino asked, once he'd finished his story. His friends stared at him, their expressions varying levels of dumbfounded.

“Okay,” Alya said slowly, “not to be rude, but are you _sure_ it wasn't a dream?”

“Yes, Alya,” Nino snapped, “I know the difference between a dream and reality.”

“Hey, no judgement,” Alya said, shrugging and throwing her hands up. “We’ve all had wildly vivid superhero fantasy dreams before, right?” She gave her two remaining friends a cursory glance for confirmation, but didn't bother to actually wait for it. “Yeah, trust me, we’ve all been there.”

“It was definitely real,” Nino insisted. “The music woke my mom up, she was still complaining about it this morning. And I had a few strands of blonde hairs caught in my fingers.”

Alya’s eyes widened. “Well, shit,” she said appreciatively.

“So?” Nino repeated. “What do I do now?”

“Uh, buy lottery tickets?” Alya said. “Now that you're apparently the luckiest person in Paris?”

“Alya!” Marinette said. “This is serious!”

“Oh come on, like you wouldn't be over the moon if the second-hottest superhero in Paris showed up at your bedroom window late one night,” Alya said.

“ _Second_ hottest?” Nino repeated indignantly. “Rude.”

“A close second,” Alya said, waving her hand dismissively. “Seriously, though, what's the problem?”

“The _problem_ ,” Nino said, annoyed, “is he jumped out my window and disappeared and now I don't have any way of getting in touch with him! I like to call a guy the next day, you know? How am I supposed to let him know I'm, like, ready for more if I don't know who he is?”

“Hmm,” Alya said. “I hadn't thought of that.”

“Maybe it's for the best,” Marinette said. “You don't actually want to date a superhero, do you?”

Alya and Nino turned in unison and looked at Marinette like she was crazy. “Of course he wants to date a superhero,” Alya said. “What's wrong with you?”

“They can't go on dates! They can't, like, just hang out together at the park, or meet each other's parents, or any of the things that _normal_ couples do!”

“Who cares about normal stuff? He'd be dating a superhero, obviously that's way better than normal! Besides, why can't he hang out with Chat at a park?”

“People would know they were dating is why, and then Nino would be in danger! The next time some villain comes along, Plan A is going to be kidnapping Nino in order to get to Chat. I'm sure _Chat_ ,” Marinette shot a half-second glare at a quickly-reddening Adrien, “wouldn't want to put Nino in that kind of danger.”

“Hmm. That's a good point,” Alya admitted. “Majestia’s boyfriend is always getting kidnapped in like every other issue. Still, Majestia always saves him. Well, except for that time he got brainwashed and turned into a cyborg programmed to kill her, but they retconned that timeline last year. Anyway, I'm sure Nino’s down with the occasional kidnapping if it means getting to date Chat, right?”

“Uh,” Nino said.

“Ooh, and you'd be an eyewitness to all the crazy stuff that happens, you could be a source for the Ladyblog this way, I could-”

“Alya! Nino is not dating Chat just so you can have a new source for your blog!”

“I'm not dating him at all if I can't talk to him,” Nino said, annoyed. “Can we get back to solving that problem? Whether I actually date Chat or not seems like a conversation for me and Chat.”

“Oh, that's easy,” Alya said. “I'll just let you know the next time Ladybug and Chat are stopping like a bank robbery or monster or whatever and you can show up in the middle of it.”

“ _No_!” Marinette and Adrien said in unison. Alya rolled her eyes.

“It's fine, I'm always on the scene for that stuff anyway-”

“Yeah,” Marinette interrupted, “and it drives Ladybug absolutely crazy and you know it, she’s told you repeatedly not to throw yourself into the middle of things!”

Alya scoffed. “Please, she loves it.”

“Alya,” Marinette said, fixing her friend with as serious a stare as she could muster, “I'm _absolutely positive_ she does not.”

“You just don't know Ladybug like I do,” Alya said to Marinette condescendingly. “This is all part of our classic back-and-forth. It's an essential part of the superhero/civilian relationship, trust me. One Nino needs to start developing as soon as possible if he wants things to go anywhere with Chat.” Alya turned suddenly to Adrien. “What do _you_ think?” she asked. “You've been awfully quiet for this entire conversation.”

“Oh, um. Uh.” Adrien cleared his throat. “Well, obviously Nino shouldn't be, like, crashing bank robberies or whatever, right?”

“ _Thank_ you, Adrien,” Marinette said smugly.

“But how am I supposed to see him again?” Nino asked. “I know it's not a great plan but if it's the best we've got-”

“Oh, I'm sure Chat will come to you,” Adrien said. “I'm positive he'll be by again tonight. Well, not _positive_ , how could I be positive,” Adrien let out a weak chuckle, and Marinette glared at him again, “but I'm sure he'll be back soon, how could he not be?”

“I don't know, man,” Nino said skeptically, “he seemed kind of freaked out last night when he left.”

“How about,” Marinette said slowly, “you wait a week before throwing yourself into the middle of a superhero fight? Give Chat a chance to come to you first.”

“And if he doesn't, we go with my plan?” Alya asked eagerly.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Sure, why not,” she said begrudgingly.

“Sweet.” Alya glanced at her phone and checked the time. “Shoot, we gotta head back to school. You'll give us more details on the way back though, right?”

“Absolutely not,” Nino said as they got up and began walking out of the cafe. “You know too much already.”

“Jeez, I already promised it wouldn't wind up on the Ladyblog, what more do you want from me?”

As Alya and Nino continued to bicker, Adrien and Marinette slowly rose and brought up the rear. Adrien was still avoiding direct eye contact with Marinette, so once she was sure their friends were properly distracted, Marinette reached over and smacked her partner upside the head.


	3. Chapter 3

Three nights later, Chat Noir appeared once again at Nino Lahiffe’s window.

“I didn't know if you'd be back,” Nino said, looking up from his computer and smiling hesitantly.

“Neither did I,” Chat admitted.

“You know how impossible it's been to focus on my homework this week, when I think you might show up at any second?”

“Sorry,” Chat said, jumping down and landing silently on Nino’s floor. “I… guess it probably won't surprise you that I didn't exactly think my first visit through.” Chat took a deep breath. “We should talk.”

Nino nodded and stood up. “Yeah,” he said, crossing the room, “I figured.” Nino stood in front of Chat and waited. “So?” Nino finally prompted.

Chat leaned forward and kissed him again.

This time, Nino kissed back right away, grabbing Chat’s shoulders and pulling him in. As Chat stepped forward Nino stepped back, and again, and then they were sitting on Nino’s bed. Chat wrapped his arms around Nino’s waist before sliding a gloved hand up under Nino’s shirt. Nino shuddered slightly as Chat’s claws scraped against the skin of his back. He reached up and grabbed Chat’s bell, this time immediately pulling the zipper down as far as it would go. He slid a hand over Chat’s chest.

“This thing doesn't allow for much access,” Nino complained. “How do I get the rest of it off?”

“You don't,” Chat said apologetically, kissing Nino’s neck. “It's not really designed to be removed. Being able to take it off would kind of defeat the purpose.”

“Well, right now it’s defeating _my_ purpose,” Nino complained, and Chat laughed. Nino pulled his own shirt off, and went back to kissing Chat as Chat ran his claws all over Nino’s bare chest. Nino leaned back, pulling Chat with him so that the hero was now over him, straddling Nino’s hips. Nino kept kissing, kept running his hands everywhere, giving in entirely to his desires and trying to shut out the little voice at the back of his head telling him this was the last chance he’d have.

About an hour later, the two boys lay next to each other on the bed, both staring at the ceiling and breathing heavily. “So,” Nino said, once he'd recovered his powers of speech, “something tells me that didn't count as talking.”

Chat laughed again. He hadn't expected to laugh at all tonight. “No,” he agreed. “It didn't.”

Nino nodded. “Is this the part where you tell me we can't be together because it puts me in too much danger?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Don't I get a say? I'm the one in danger, shouldn't I get to decide if I think this is worth the risk or not?” His hand found Chat’s and he laced his fingers between the hero’s.

“I wish you did,” Chat said wistfully. “I wish this was just about the two of us.”

Nino sighed, frustrated. “Superheroes, man.” He turned to look at Chat. “You could keep stopping by at night,” he suggested. “We could keep this casual.”

“I can't keep this casual,” Chat whispered.

Nino sighed. “No,” he agreed, “neither can I.”

“I don't want to stop this,” Chat said, his voice breaking slightly, “but if I don't stop it tonight I'll never be able to.”

Nino nodded. “I get it.” He pushed himself up into one elbow, then leaned over and kissed Chat. “You'll still see me around,” he said. “Dragging Alya back a safe distance and all that.” Chat smiled. “And… I work at my parents’ restaurant sometimes, after school. You should stop by. Start up a conversation. I don't have to know it's you. Just… come over one day, see where things go.”

Chat nodded. “I will.” He sat up and looked at the bedroom window, then turned back and kissed Nino one more time. “Goodbye.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette had been waiting for over an hour, trying and failing to work on her designs, when she finally heard the knock from her balcony door she’d been expecting. “Come in,” she called, and Adrien’s face appeared at the door. As he climbed down into the room, Marinette decided not to comment on how long he’d taken. “You did it?” Adrien nodded silently, then sighed and threw himself onto Marinette’s couch. “Oh, kitty,” Marinette said, walking over and sitting next to him. “You did the right thing.”

“Then why do I feel so terrible?” Adrien mumbled, not lifting his head from her pillow.

Marinette patted his head, then stroked his hair comfortingly. “It hurts now, but it'll start to hurt less eventually. We can't date people as superheroes, you know that.”

Before Adrien could reply, his pocket started vibrating insistently. He pulled his phone out, then groaned. “It's Nino. Nino's calling. Of _course_ he's calling, he just got dumped by a superhero and I'm the _friend_ , the guy to talk to, to-”

Marinette grabbed his phone out of his hand and pressed the Decline Call button. “Nino can talk to Alya if he needs to talk to someone,” she said decisively. “You get to take care of yourself tonight.” She sighed. “I know it seems bad now, but in a week or so you’ll feel better. Nino will feel better. And then you can talk to him as Adrien, okay? It's going to be so much better that way, I promise. You'll be able to have a real relationship.” Marinette leaned forward and kissed Adrien’s forehead. “Trust me, you two will be dating in a month. Two months, tops.”

They weren’t, though.

 

* * *

 

“Chat, duck!”

Chat narrowly avoided being hit by a blast of venom; it landed on the street behind him and immediately started eating away at the asphalt. The beast that had aimed it at him roared angrily, beating its leathery black wings and flying further up. Chat turned to the crowd. “Everyone move back!” he shouted; people were already keeping their distance, but if any of them got hit, Chat had no idea how bad the injuries would be. He had no idea what they were fighting, either; it was some kind of horrific hybrid of a lion, a bat, and a scorpion. Chat didn’t need to know what it was, however, to know that people would die if he and Ladybug didn’t take it down.

“We need to Cataclysm it,” Ladybug shouted at Chat.

“We need to get it on the ground first!” Chat shouted back. Ladybug nodded, and began spinning her yo-yo as Chat prepared his Cataclysm. Ladybug threw her yo-yo up as the beast swooped back down, dodging its attack and lassoing it in one easy motion. She pulled with all her might and slammed it to the ground, stunning it. Chat quickly leapt onto its back, grabbing at the beast with his shadowy, power-infused claw. He made contact with a wing, and it instantly began to crumble to dust beneath him. Chat grinned-but then the Cataclysm stopped at the base of the wing. Cataclysm was usually enough to take down a monster, but evidently the individual pieces of this creature counted separately.

Before Chat realized he needed to retreat, the beast recovered. It roared once more as it stabbed its scorpion tail into Chat’s stomach with lightning speed.

“Chat!”

The creature pushed Chat’s now-limp body aside as though it were nothing, then tried to take off again. With only one wing, though, it quickly landed back on the ground. Roaring in frustration, it retreated towards Notre Dame and began scaling the outside, shooting venom as it went. Ladybug quickly looked around, making sure no civilians were close enough to be hit, before rushing to Chat’s side. “Chat! Chat, wake up!” Ladybug shook her partner, but he didn’t respond. Biting her lip, Ladybug thought as fast as she could. The beast seemed to be nursing its wounds for now; Ladybug probably had a few minutes to get Chat to safety before she resumed her attack. Any more than that, and she’d be risking civilians. Ideally, she’d take Chat to the Guardian, the only person Ladybug could think of that would know how to heal whatever was wrong with him. But the Guardian was clear across the other side of the city, and Ladybug couldn’t leave the monster alone in the middle of Paris for that long. She knew Chat would never want her to place his life above the lives of innocent Parisians.

Ladybug could take him to his home, she knew it was nearby. She might have plenty of well-earned objections to Chat’s father, but nobody outside his family knew Chat’s secret, or would know how to contact the Guardian. If nothing else, he could be trusted to do what was best for Chat, and he-

-was currently on his honeymoon on the other side of the world, Ladybug suddenly remembered. Shit.

Ladybug couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Chat alone like this, but who was close enough, who could she trust with Chat’s life?

After another half-second of thought, the answer came to her. Ladybug quickly picked Chat up, tossing him over her shoulder as gently as she could manage. “You owe me, you stupid cat,” she muttered, before throwing her yo-yo out and flying up to the nearby rooftops.

 

* * *

 

“Jesus!” Nino exclaimed, looking up from his computer as Ladybug appeared at his window suddenly, an unconscious Chat over her shoulder. As she waited impatiently for him to open the window and let her in, Ladybug noticed he’d been watching a livestream of the monster coverage.

“I'm so sorry,” she said in a rush, as she jumped in, crossed the room, and lay Chat down on the bed, “I couldn't think of anywhere else to bring him, I have to go back and defeat that thing. Can you take care of him until I can come back?”

Nino nodded, though his expression was one of confusion and fear. “How do I-” he started, but Ladybug was already gone. Nino turned towards the superhero. Chat was unconscious, far too pale, and had a huge puncture wound in his stomach. It wasn't bleeding, but the look of the foul green liquid slowly oozing around it made Nino wonder if this was a good thing or not. He crossed his room and locked the door to keep out any wandering, nosy parents.

Frowning, Nino walked back to Chat. “I don't really know what to do here, dude,” he confessed to the unconscious hero. “It probably won't take Ladybug long to be back, right?” He glanced back at his computer screen, but it was impossible to tell how close Ladybug was to defeating the beast. Nino put a hand to Chat’s forehead. It was warm, but not unusually so. “My parents always do this,” Nino said, “but something tells me a baby aspirin and ginger ale isn't exactly gonna cut it this-”

Nino was cut off, quite suddenly, by a bright flash of light. The next thing he knew, Nino was looking down at his best friend. He stared, dumbfounded.

Nino didn't realize that the forehead beneath his hand was getting hotter until it physically hurt to touch. “Fuck,” Nino muttered, pulling his hand away and snapping out of his disbelief. He could worry about the implications of Adrien being Chat later, after he made sure Adrien wouldn’t die. He looked at the monitor again, but Ladybug seemed no closer to defeating the monster than she had a few minutes ago. “Fuck,” he repeated, then leaned over. “Adrien? Adrien?” He shook Adrien’s shoulders, but Adrien didn't respond. “Adrien, I don't know what to do, you have to wake up, you have to tell me what to do, _please_ -”

“Mm?” Adrien didn't open his eyes.

“You got hurt,” Nino said loudly. “Real bad. What do I do?”

“Call Mom,” Adrien mumbled.

Nino blinked. “What, your mom?” he asked, confused. Adrien didn't answer. With a frustrated sigh, Nino started patting down Adrien’s pockets and quickly found his phone. He scrolled through Adrien’s contacts, found Adrien's mom’s number, and called it.

“Adrien, darling,” a feminine voice said, answering after a few rings, “you know I'm always happy to hear from you but I'm a bit tied up with my work in Belgium at the moment, can this-”

“This isn't Adrien,” Nino interrupted. “Adrien’s hurt, he said to call you, he got stabbed by a monster, what do I-”

“I'll be right there,” Adrien’s mother interrupted, her tone of voice completely changed.

“What? No, Adrien can't wait for you to get here from Belgium, just tell me what to- _fuck_ ,” Nino swore again as he realized the woman had hung up. He called her back, but the call went straight to voicemail. “Well, that was useless,” Nino complained, throwing the phone on the bed in frustration. He leaned over his friend again. “Adrien, come on, there must be something else I can do, right?” He shook Adrien again, to no avail. “Who else can I call, what else can I do?” Adrien said nothing. Nino fought to keep the panic rising in his chest at bay.

Adrien was burning up… so cooling him down had to be a step in the right direction, right? Nino tore his gaze away from Adrien and left his room, shutting his door and making his way down the hall as quietly as he could, praying his parents wouldn’t hear him moving around and start asking questions. He made it to the bathroom, grabbed a washcloth, and ran it under cold water until it was soaked. He made his way back to his room, locked the door again, and put the cloth on his friend’s forehead.

After about five minutes, Nino removed the cloth and checked Adrien’s forehead again. Still hot. Nino was trying to figure out if the wet cloth needed to be replaced already, or if it was even doing anything helpful at all, when his bedroom door suddenly flew open and Adrien’s mother quickly entered the room, shutting it behind her.

“What the… how did you get here from Belgium that fast?” Nino asked. “And how did you get up here without my parents noticing you? And… didn’t I lock that door?”

Adrien’s mother rolled her eyes, as though answering any of Nino’s questions was beneath her. “Move,” she snapped, and Nino jumped back. Evelyn hurried to her son’s side, quickly sitting next to him on the edge of the mattress and brushing the wet hair out of his eyes. “Baby?” She put a hand to his forehead, frowning, then pulled the bottom of his tee shirt up, revealing the puncture wound. Evelyn practically hissed at the sight of it, sucking air through her teeth in horror before looking up at Nino. “What did this?” she demanded.

“Um,” Nino pointed at his computer screen, still playing the livestream of Notre Dame, “that.”

Evelyn watched the footage of Ladybug fighting the monster for a few seconds. “Manticore,” she muttered under her breath, before turning back to Adrien. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetheart,” she said gently, though it was clear Adrien could not hear her. She caressed his face one more time before moving her hand to hover a few inches over the wound, palm flat and fingers spread. She began muttering something under her breath, something that sounded like Latin to Nino, although he couldn’t be sure. A few seconds later, the green ooze of the wound began to rise and form into a small, resin-like ball under Evelyn’s hand. She stopped chanting, but kept her hand and her focus where they were, and the ball slowly continued to grow.

Nino had never really interacted with Adrien’s mother before. He didn’t know much about her, and what he did know-that she’d left Adrien for two years, that she’d returned without warning and expected Adrien to be fine with it, that Adrien had gotten upset enough about something at home a month later to leave and stay with Nino’s family for a week-he didn’t like. Now, it was occurring to Nino that he knew _way_ less about her than he’d realized.

“Is that the poison?” Nino asked, about ten minutes later.

“Venom,” Evelyn corrected curtly.

“Oh. Right. Is, um, once you get it all out, is he gonna be-”

“Stop talking.”

Biting back an annoyed retort, Nino sat down at his computer chair and switched his attention to the news footage. About fifteen minutes later, a loud cheer sounded from the surrounding crowd as Ladybug was declared victorious. The reporters began joyfully reporting her success, their jubilation only slightly marred by their annoyance that Ladybug did not stick around for even a quick interview. Nino stood and moved toward his window. Less than two minutes later, Ladybug sailed through it, landing gracefully in front of him.

“Is he-” Ladybug stopped mid-question, noticing Evelyn.

“Adrien said to call her,” Nino explained.

“Oh,” Ladybug said, nodding. “Good. Is he-”

“He’ll be fine,” Evelyn interrupted impatiently, not looking up, “so long as people stop distracting me with silly questions.” Nino was somewhat satisfied to see a glare of annoyance flash across Ladybug’s face-evidently Adrien’s superhero partner didn’t like his mother any more than Nino did. “Go to the Guardian,” Evelyn continued. “Tell him to get ready for Adrien. I’ll bring him over once all the venom’s drawn out.”

Ladybug nodded. “Fine,” she said. She took a step back towards the window, then turned back and threw her arms around Nino. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Nino hugged her back. “Sure,” he whispered. “Any time.”

Evelyn glanced over at Ladybug as she leapt out the window, then looked at Nino. “You’re that friend of his,” she said, as though she was only just noticing Nino’s presence in the room.

Nino straightened. “Yeah?”

Evelyn nodded. “I remember you. The one he stayed with last year, right? After I confiscated his Miraculous.”

Nino’s jaw dropped. “After you _what_? _That’s_ what that was all about back then? Why would you do that?”

Evelyn raised an eyebrow and fixed Nino with a piercing stare. “So he wouldn’t get stabbed by a venomous manticore,” she said, as though Nino were an idiot. She took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sorry,” she said, not quite as sincerely as Nino would have liked, but still. “I’ve been rude. Adrien…” Evelyn trailed off and looked at her son, still unconscious but with color finally returning to his face. “Adrien means the world to me,” she said softly, “and I’m not a very nice person when my world is threatened. You’ll understand one day, if you ever have a child. But he’s going to be fine now. You probably saved his life, calling me.” The last of the green ooze floated up, joining the mass floating under Evelyn’s hand, now roughly the size of a baseball. Evelyn pulled a silk pouch, small and black, from her purse and dropped the venom ball into it before pulling the strings and tying the bag tightly shut. She put the bag back in her purse, then leaned over Adrien and placed a hand on his shoulder. Before Nino could ask any questions, they’d both disappeared into thin air.

Nino stared at where they’d been for a few moments. Taking a deep breath, he tried and failed to wrap his head around it all a few times, then grabbed his jacket and left.

 

* * *

 

Nino wandered through Paris for a few hours, lost in thought. It was finally starting to get easier to think things through. Now he was sitting on a park bench, still thinking and looking at nothing in particular.

“Nino! Nino?”

Startled, Nino looked up to see Adrien on the other side of the park, quickly crossing to him. “Should you be up?” Nino asked the second Adrien was close enough to hear.

“It’s fine, I had to see you,” Adrien said, slightly out of breath. “Ladybug told me what you did. Thank you.”

Nino shrugged. “I didn’t do much,” he said.

Adrien sat down next to him. “Yes, you did,” he insisted. “You did a lot. You always do. Even after I repay it by being a terrible friend. I never should have approached you as Chat, you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry.”

Nino smiled wryly. “I wasn’t complaining at the time,” he said.

Adrien blinked. “You don’t feel lied to?” he asked, stunned. “Tricked? After finding out Chat was someone you knew in real life, someone hiding their real identity just so they could-”

“Dude, I’m not an idiot,” Nino interrupted. “I kind of already figured Chat had to be someone I knew in real life. I didn’t actually think you’d just, you know, seen me in a crowd in the middle of an attack and fallen head over heels at first sight or whatever. My eyes aren’t that pretty.”

“Yes they are,” Adrien said immediately. His face went bright red. “I mean… I should stop talking.”

Laughing, Nino leaned back. “You know,” he continued, “I’ve been going over our entire friendship for the past few hours, and I’m not sure which I feel stupider about, that I didn’t notice you were Chat or that I didn’t notice you had a thing for me. In retrospect, there were a lot of red flags for both.” He looked at Adrien. “How long have you felt like this?”

“Since last year,” Adrien said, not meeting Nino’s eyes.

Nino nodded. “I wish you’d said something back then.”

“Me, too.” Adrien took a deep breath. “You must have a ton of questions,” he said nervously.

“Nah,” Nino replied. “Just one.”

“What’s that?”

Nino looked Adrien right in the eye. “You’re _really_ okay?” he asked. “I mean, three hours ago you were half-dead, dude, are you sure you shouldn’t be in bed or something?”

Adrien grinned. “No, I’m completely fine,” he assured Nino. “Good as new.”

Nino nodded. “Good,” he said. “Then I can safely do this.” Nino leaned over and kissed Adrien.

Adrien was right, of course, that Nino had plenty of questions. But for now, none of them were important. Right now, all that mattered was that Nino was done wasting time, and he had a superhero to kiss.


End file.
